Celestial techniques were endlessly abstruse.

　　Shen Lian has restored the building that was destroyed by the Tianwaitian assassin. With a couple of Dao techniques, he built a small building that came with a scenic view of a lake landscape.

　　Cultivators were generally efficient people. Under the leadership of Zhao Xiaoyu, the believers of Luoism too managed to build several small houses surrounding the small building for temporary living. In no time, they turned the place into a celestial square that practiced trading. From elixirs, secret techniques to instruments, everything could be found here. It was somewhat surprising, but at the same time, it made sense.

　　After all, if a celestial being or Buddha stayed in a place for long, they would attract cultivators around them. Back then, the founder of Luoism did not intend to form a big religion. He was knowledgeable about Dao and was actively interacting with fellow believers on Jimo Peak. Not long after, people who wanted to seek Dao started gathering there and that was the earliest foundation of Luoism.

　　However, they did not have unity and eventually lost their influence and disintegrated.

　　Although Zhao Xiaoyu has yet to achieve the celestial state, she possessed unrivaled leadership skills. She started off by riding on Shen Lian’s wave but eventually earned the respect of fellow cultivators.

　　Shen Lian was genuinely impressed by Zhao Xiaoyu. If he was in her shoes, he would not perform as well as she did.

　　After days of discussing on metaphysics and Dao, Shen Lian finally had some leisure time for himself.

　　He was meditating in the quiet room.

　　He had a sudden afflatus followed by a ray of light. A silhouette was visible outside the small building. Shen Lian speculated and immediately knew who it belonged to. It was the sacred nun, Qingyin.

　　Before he could transmit his thoughts via telepathy, he noticed that Qingyin handed a letter to the believer who was guarding the small building.

　　She then left swiftly as if she did not dare to enter the place.

　　Shen Lian understood that this was a letter of challenge. After all these days, a legitimate challenge finally came, and he hoped that this challenge would not disappoint him.

　　He received the so-called letter of challenge from the believer and let out a laugh. His opponent actually wanted to set up the Five Ultimate Formations and invited him to come to Jimo Peak’s Yuhua Stage in ten days time.

　　Apparently, Yuhua Stage was the place where the founder of Luoism preaches Dao. Rumour had it that people would still be able to hear the founder’s resonance once in a while. However, the frequency of the appearance of the resonance decreased over time.

　　But that was not surprising as nothing lasts forever, moreover the Dao resonance of the founder.

　　The fact that it actually lasted for such long period of time showed that founder’s luck was comparable to a Daoist master’s or Buddha’s.

　　Qingyin did not bother to seal the letter of challenge and left the contents exposed as she passed it to the guard. There was no point in sealing it as the news would travel fast and they were not worried about Shen Lian turning down the challenge.

　　Moreover, they would be the one setting up the formation and Shen Lian would be the one solving it. From another perspective, it could be seen as a battle of reasoning.

　　However, this battle of reasoning would not be any less relaxing compared to a deadly duel.

　　Shen Lian was not afraid of it and in fact, he had some plans in mind. He could take this opportunity to pressure and push himself through the last step of the nine states of cultivation. He wanted to step into the state of Celestialism and then investigate Yanxu.

　　He had a feeling that the Yanxu would know the truth behind the Qi of Sky Demon in the Taiwei Pavilion.

　　Furthermore, this immortal Zhenren was a traitor and a threat to Qing Xuan. It was best to have him captured.

　　He analyzed for a bit and then went into a state of spiritual calmness. He only woke up three days later.

　　Shen Lian was ready to attend the Five Ultimate Formations challenge by the Sacred Nun Qingyin. People were aware of the challenge and it was one of the most anticipated events. Zhao Xiaoyu was in a solitary retreat to rehabilitate from her injuries. However, shocked by the news, she came out from her retreat. She wanted to meet Shen Lian but he was meditating. She came once and left.

　　Once Shen Lian entered the state of spiritual calmness, he would roam around with Taixu and have natural defense due to his techniques. He would be more aware than he usually was and if someone tried to harm him, the person would be mercilessly attacked by Shen Lian’s protection spells.

　　Although fiction always depicted that a connoisseur would die or lose his powers if he was ambushed when in solitary retreat, that was not the case for Shen Lian.

　　That was also not the case for most people who were in a similar state as him.

　　Ultimately, one would have broken away from practicing Qi and leveled up to understand Xuan and attain enlightenment after achieving Huandan. Otherwise, Huandan would not have been known as ‘entering the path of Daoism’. Only after achieving this state, one would be considered to be different from the masses.

　　When Shen Lian was awakened, he would not go back to meditate. Fortunately, there were seven days more to the Five Ultimate Formations challenge and he was about to get ready and depart.

　　He walked out of the small building and noticed the pale white atmosphere. It was solemn and melancholic.

　　Apparently, a person of Huandan level has passed away in a sitting posture at this very place. It would be a different story if a cultivator died of vendetta or if a cultivator passed on in a sitting posture.

　　Nobody could decline their destiny when it was time to leave. Several cultivators were emotionally affected by the passing.

　　Some people started feeling confused and lost as it occurred to them that everything, the joy, the happiness and the fun, would be nothing once doomsday approaches.

　　Even if you possessed special instruments and supernatural powers, if you failed to obtain immortality and failed to understand Dao, you would eventually die and turn into soil.

　　How much more depressing this could be?

　　Shen Lian could hear people reciting, “Eternal venerable mother, the hometown of the true void.”

　　‘The hometown of the true void’ referred to the sacred land of the Luoism cultivators. It was similar to the heaven for Daoist Sects and the Western Paradise for Buddhist Sects.

　　Their divine thoughts had produced a pure force of faith.

　　Generally, such faith would be attributed to an unknown place but as Shen Lian’s divine thoughts were so refined, he could trace the faith to somewhere nearby.

　　He followed the traces and saw Zhao Xiaoyu who was dressed in white. She was barefooted and her hair was down; her gaze seemed to be coated with a layer of black porcelain as it looked cold and pure, and she seemed to be recovering well from her injuries.

　　Shen Lian investigated with his divine thoughts and that caught Zhao Xiaoyu’s attention as both of their divine thoughts interacted in the void.

　　Shen Lian noticed another person that was definitely not Zhao Xiaoyu. That was an innate god smiling with a kind solemn face, a head full of white hair, dressed in a ceremonial robe with both hands holding on the Bagua. It looked like the incarnations of both Buddha and Dao.

　　It also gave out an air of suffering in the secular mortal world.

　　It brought out the sorrow in Shen Lian as he felt the misery of the world. He could not help his desire to hug this god.

　　Meanwhile, Zhao Xiaoyu released a pure ray of light, as if she wanted to eliminate all filth.

　　In this brief moment, Shen Lian’s spirit regained clearness as the gleam of a sword came through in the void to interrupt that air of suffering. At the same time, he could hear Zhao Xiaoyu whisper.

　　He went to her side and tapped the middle of her back to disperse the mysterious power with the five elements of Qi of Dan.

　　Zhao Xiaoyu seemed to be awake and her eyes were clear as usual. In a gentle soft voice she said to Shen Lian, “I am fine, please don’t worry about me.”